The True Story of Ah Q

infobox Book |
name = The True Story of Ah Q
title_orig = Ā Q Zhèngzhuàn
translator =


image_caption = One of the reprints after 1923 with the author and English title on the cover
author = Lu Xun
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = China
language = Vernacular Chinese
series =
genre =
publisher =
release_date = 1921
english_release_date =
media_type =
pages =
isbn =
preceded_by =
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"The True Story of Ah Q" (Traditional Chinese: 阿Q正傳; Simplified Chinese: 阿Q正传; pinyin: Ā Q Zhèngzhuàn), is a short episodic novella written by Lu Xun, first published periodically between December 4, 1921 and February 12, 1922. It was later collected in his first short story collection "Nahan" (呐喊) in 1923. It is the longest of the stories in the collection. The piece is generally held to be a masterpiece of modern Chinese literature, since it is considered the first piece of work fully to utilize Vernacular Chinese after the 1919 May 4th Movement in ChinaLuo, Jing. [2004] (2004). Over a Cup of Tea: An Introduction to Chinese Life and Culture. University Press of America. ISBN 0761829377] .

ynopsis

The story traces the "adventures" of Ah Q, a man from the peasant, rural class with little education and no definite work. Ah Q is famous for "spiritual victories", Lu Xun's euphemism for self-talk and self-deception even when faced with extreme defeat or humiliation. Ah Q is a bully of the less fortunate but fearful of those who are above him in rank, strength, or power. He persuades himself mentally that he is spiritually "superior" to his oppressors even as he succumbs to their tyranny and suppression. Lu Xun exposes Ah Q's extreme faults as symptomatic of the Chinese national character of his time. The ending of the piece – when Ah Q is carted off to execution for a lowly crime – is equally poignant and satirical.

Metaphor

In Chapter One, the author claims ironically that he could not recall nor verify Ah Q's correct name, a claim that gives the character symbolic anonymity. "Ah" (阿) in Chinese is an affectionate prefix for names. "Q" is short for "Quei ," Lu Xun's romanization of what would today be romanized in Hanyu Pinyin as "Guī." However, as there are many characters that are pronounced "quei," the narrator claims he does not know which character he should use, and therefore shortens it to "Q." The deliberate use of a Western letter instead of a Chinese character is a reference to the concepts of the May Fourth movement, which advocated adoption of Western ideas. Another like theory regarding the use of the letter Q, is its aural similarity to 'queue', the Manchu hairstyle which all men in Qing Dynasty China were forced to wear, and which most cut off after the republic was established as a symbol of protest.

tory

Ah Q has no status in the village of Weichang, except for what little he may temporarily gain by lying, stealing, or somehow linking himself with an important person. He wanders all day on the streets and makes a living by stealing and begging, and sometimes by doing low-paid temporary jobs. Ah Q has an "abundant" spiritual life made up of watching others doing things that he considers "foolish" or "rude." Ah Q always feels superior over most people despite the fact that he was also, simultaneously, being looked down upon. Many people actually "enjoy" watching the absurdity and failure of Ah Q, but there are also some people that Ah Q truly respects or fears, such as the landlords and rich citizens.

Ah Q is known for deluding himself into believing he is the victor every time he loses a fight. In one scene, Ah Q is beaten and his silver is stolen. He slaps himself on the face, and because he is the person doing the slapping, he sees himself as the victor. This deep-rooted need to maintain a victorious status even when actually defeated shows the Chinese obsession with maintaining a good appearance to all outsiders to be ridiculous at times.

When Mr. Zhao, an honored landlord of the village, beats Ah Q in a fight, Ah Q considers himself important for having even a tiny association with such a person. Though some villagers suspect Ah Q may have no true association with Mr. Zhao, they do not question the matter closely, and instead give Ah Q more respect for a time. This interaction symbolizes China's tradition of group rewards and punishments--guilt or honor by association.

Ah Q is often close-minded about petty things. When he ventures into a new town and sees that a "long bench" is called a "straight bench," he believes their way to be instantly inferior and totally wrong. Traditionally China since the Ming Dynasty had held to the belief that those outside of China were barbarians, and were close-minded about accepting the accomplishments of other countries.

There is a scene in which Ah Q harasses a small nun to make himself feel better. He pinches her and blames his problems on her. Instead of crying out at the injustice of Ah Q's bullying, the crowd nearby laughs. This symbolizes the "mob mentality" that Lu Xun so detested in the Chinese people which led to their extreme apathy in the face of injustice.

One day, news of Xinhai Revolution comes into town. Both landlord families, the Zhaos and the Chiens, become revolutionaries to keep their power. Some people, under the name of "revolutionary army", rob the houses of the landlords and rich folks. Ah Q also wants to join them and also claim himself a revolutionary, but misses the opportunity to act when the time comes. Finally, Ah Q is arrested as a scapegoat for the plunder and sentenced to death by the new governor.

When Ah Q is asked to sign a confession, he worries that he cannot write his name. The officers tell him to sign a circle instead. Ah Q is so worried about drawing a perfect circle to save face that he is unaware he would be executed until it is too late. Before his death he persuades himself he will be reborn again as a valiant man, and tries to entertain the crowds watching his execution, but fails to remember the correct lines of the Chinese opera he is emulating.

Observations of China

China at the turn of the 20th century, the environment in which the story is set, was facing a significant clash between traditional culture and modern capitalist-industrial ideologies defined by Western nations. However, the downfall of Qing Dynasty and the growth of Western capitalism, as is shown in the novella, had barely any influence on average rural Chinese people according to the novel. The story bears the thought of the author that the ignorance of the masses in China, which was the root of its backward status, could not be saved by a simple change of government. Lu Xun commented that what China really needed was what he called "medicine of the spirit", which might mean modernized education and the resulting changes of social habits. In the novella, such idea is well expressed in an inverted fashion. By presenting the poor living status of masses in China on both material and mental level, the author tried to make people (especially the urban intelligentsias) aware of the gruesome reality facing average Chinese people.

The novella also strongly criticised the alleged historic-cultural burden of China, which was formed by the long history of absolute authority of the feudalist order. The feudalist social structure, order and culture are solidified through its two thousand year dominance. As a result of this, enormous social pressure brought on by group punishment and the rigidly-interpreted Civil Service Test both encouraged conformist ways and social hegemony in the Chinese culture. According to Lu Xun, people molded by such cultural environment were obsessed with saving face, proud of its past without any new accomplishments, and accepting without questioning the injustices imposed by authority. But as in most of Lu Xun's works, the criticism offers no clear solution to the problems. However, the mentality favouring science and democracy, which were the main ideals of the Chinese social revolution against feudalist order, was exceptionally strong.

References to modern culture

In modern Chinese language, the "spirit of Ah Q" (阿Q精神)(A Q jingshen) is now commonly used as a term of mockery to describe anybody who chooses not to face up to reality and deceives himself into believing he is successful.

ee also

* New Youth

References

External links

* [http://www.marxists.org/archive/lu-xun/1921/12/ah-q/index.htm The True Story of Ah Q (English)]
* [http://www.xys.org/xys/classics/Lu-Xun/Nahan/aq.txt 阿Q正传 / The True Story of Ah Q (simplified characters)]
* [http://www.geocities.jp/torikai007/bio/rojin.html The Historical Background of The True Story of Ah Q: Lu Xun and Japan]